Eighteen Hours In Louisville, Kentucky

 We made a quick trip up to Louisville, Kentucky last weekend so Rebekah could audition for the National Summer Audition Tour (ballet). Only Dear Husband, Rebekah and I decided to go because it was such a quick turn around. We arrived at the Galt House hotel close to Midnight. This is a very swanky hotel that we just happened to be offered with our genius points on booking.com. We sure have been traveling a ton in the past few years. The offer from Galt was cheaper than the Holiday Inn down the street. We were immediately enveloped into a sea of lovely ladies in full length ball gowns that were attending the Bluegrass Ball. What a greeting. We got settled into our room and had a good night sleep. 

We had breakfast in the morning at the hotel restaurant. My french toast was a delight. We then had a fun wander around the huge hotel. It really made a splash. 

Breakfast

view from our hotel room

a steamboat from our hotel room

Rebekah in front of one of the steamboats on the Ohio River.

Hanging out in one of the hotel's large public areas while the hubby got coffee to go. 

Rebekah wasn't due to the audition until 4 pm, so we wanted to keep her busy to reduce her nervousness. We decided to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.  The Factory tour was very nice and educational. We enjoy baseball as a family and it was really neat to see how baseball bats are made. Dear husband loved trying out the ones on display.

These bats are made by hand on a lathe machine.

Our tour guided showing the machine. 

Some famous player's bats. 

These are weighted bats with a hole drilled in the end. 

Big enough bat, dear husband?

He found a mit to go with the bat. LOL.

A museum docent let David hold one of Babe Ruth's bats. 

Outside the museum and factory

We decided on a leisurely lunch after our museum/factory tour. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch. They serve big portions. We got one three course spaghetti and meatball meal and two sides for all three of us to share and it was plenty. We also got fancy drinks. Dear Husband and Rebekah got Italian sodas and I got the Cotton Candy Limeade. It was something to behold and tasted good too. Rebekah may have posted in a joking way on instagram that her mom bought the kids decadent drink, but I say you need to feed your inner child if you want to stay young. 

We dropped Rebekah off at her audition after our late lunch. David and I walked about two plus miles along the trails in the Riverfront park. We visited The Lincoln memorial and sat with his statue for a few minutes (it being his birthday that day). Then we walked over most of the Big Four Bridge which is a pedestrian bridge that connects Kentucky to Indiana. 

We picked up Jimmy John's for our drive home and went back to collect Rebekah. The first poor girl who came out was crying and ran to her father's embrace. Rebekah came out with a plastered smile and said that the audition had been extremely challenging and most of the 30+ girls had struggled a great deal, including herself. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be selected by any of the 13 universities and professional companies who had watched the audition. We reassured her that she had already been selected for several summer intensives through other auditions or invite backs, so this was just the icing on the top. She appreciated that, but apologized several times for us making such a long trip and all of the extra cost. We told her that the practice was good for her and this was all a part of life. Besides, we got to see a brand new city to us for a few hours.

UPDATE ~  I can say that she was wrong. Some of the ballet companies have already gotten back to her and she was selected for her top two choices. I will announce where she is going in a few weeks when her entire summer is firmed up.  It looks like she will be doing four summer intensives across three states.  

We arrived home just past midnight. It was exhausting, but a fun and successful trip. 

Blessings, Dawn

September ~ A New Arrival, New Job, Sad Goodbye and Fall Fun

Wow, we had a lot happen in our family in the past 30 days! We finally found Rebekah a car that we could afford. It is a 2008 Subaru Impreza with about 160,000 miles on it. But it is in very good condition and was taken very good care of before coming to us. We, of course, plan to nurture it so it can have a very long life. Rebekah only drives about 40 miles a week. Having another driver and car in the house to fetch Elijah and Tim, both non-drivers, when I am at work is invaluable!

David and I  planned to go to a bed and breakfast for our anniversary a year and a half ago. We set the date and made arrangements. Then a pile of issues came up and we had to cancel. The Bed and Breakfast saved our reservation and said we had two years to set a new date. We finally made it this month. It was the first time we had a 20 hour get away from home together since becoming parents to four kids! That is a lot of years to wait. We had a lovely time exploring this gorgeous Queen Anne right in our town. At every turn there were Tiffany windows. We went out to a nice restaurant for dinner and had a lovely breakfast at the Bed and Breakfast. It was a lovely get away, and we plan to make it a yearly thing. One upside of living in a tourist town is that there are more than a dozen  B&B's to explore without being more than 20 minutes from home. 

We also enjoyed the mountain state fair. We get a smaller version than the main state fair held in the capital. Only Timothy and Rebekah wanted to go. Elijah is such a homebody and doesn't like to change his routine unless it is something really spectacular. I realized that I didn't get a single picture of him this month...but he is doing just fine. 

My new job is wonderful. I am really enjoying being a nanny. It is a bigger adjustment being away from home for 16 to 20 hours a week than I thought it would be, but all the prep work I put into place is working for the most part. The little guy I care for is so smart, and we are really enjoying getting to know each other. I brought bubbles to play with the first week, and he started calling me "Bubbles". So far the name has stuck and he has no interest in learning my real name. My family is really getting a kick out of my "new" name and like to tease me. We have fallen into a nice routine that includes playtime, crafts, lots of reading books, a long walk to the park/library/stores (depending on how far I want to walk) and naptime. He is a real sweetheart. 

Rebekah, Tim and I ran off to an apple and pumpkin patch one day this month. Rebekah only had two days off this month that didn't have any school, dance or work. I wish she had a reset/rest day each week, but so far the schedule hasn't worked that way. 

Lastly,  my husband's father passed away this month. He had a short period of suffering before passing away peacefully in his sleep. We were blessed to know him and he was a kind father, father -in-law and grandpa. My husband will be traveling to Salt Lake City for his funeral soon (we can't afford to fly all of us there). Then we will all attend his internment in his home church that he helped build (St. Andrews in Northern Virginia) sometime this winter. 

Blessings, Dawn

Mother's Day

I had a lovely Mother's Day. I think it may have been the best ever. Rebekah and I took my Mother to a bridge that has been converted into a really beautiful garden. The garden stretches over the bridge and down the sides and almost under the bridge. It was so sweet and lovely. We will have to go back again soon. 

It was filled with little gardens within the garden. This was in one of the children's gardens. 

The mirror, mirror on the wall area was very creative.  I also loved how they converted the old boat below into a darling garden. 

The doggie stick library was too cute. Dogs are welcome in the garden and they could get some fresh water and pick a stick to take home from this section. 

We somehow lost the picture of all three of us. which is such a disappointment. 

After our lovely walk through the garden, we went into the tiny town. We had lunch and then went to the "new" permanent carnival which is a collection of rides from the 1940's and 1950's. We were stunned to see the Merry-Go-Round that used to stand on the Museum Mall in downtown Washington, D.C. It is the very same Merry-Go-Round that I grew up riding on whenever we were in the city and had been right across the street from my father's work. We just had to go on it! 

It was such a thrill to go on something that I had grown up riding on. What a small world we live in! Who would have thought we would find something like this more than 500 miles from my childhood home?

We took my Mother home, then picked up my husband and sons. We wrapped up the day by attending a showing of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. It was a perfect day!

Blessings, Dawn

A Tea Party for Two

Rebekah and I had a lovely outing at a local tea house. It was kind of a celebration of the beginning of new adventures. As I write this post, she has completed the first week of the professional training program in ballet and is mostly pleased with her progress. The program really is wonderful and so different from the way she has been taught in the past. She has great hopes that they will really be able to help her hone her skills.

We each selected a different tea. Rebekah had Silver Needle white tea, and I had Imperial Yellow black tea. Our waiter showed us the entire process of steeping our tea. There was more steps to Rebekah's tea, because white tea can be damaged in the process, since it is so delicate and can have a distasteful flavor if it gets too hot.  The tea was very good and didn't even need sugar. 

It was just really nice to go out and have a lovely mother/daughter hour. There are so many neat places to try in our city. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 numbers are really climbing, and that was probably it for us for a long time. 

We were not terribly affected by Tropical Storm Fred. Our nearest shopping area to our home looked like this for a few hours and we had lots of road closures for a few days. However, the county next to us had terrible flash flooding that caused several deaths. 

We are praying that the year goes well and that this pandemic comes to an end. 

Blessings, Dawn